Save the Kirkbride: New information

The Midwest Paranormal Files group is dedicated to each and every investigation location we have the pleasure of being involved with. One building that is near and dear to us is the old state hospital in Fergus Falls, MN. It is also known as The Regional Treatment Center (RTC) and the Kirkbride. We had the opportunity to investigate this location, and it is among our favorites. We have followed its struggle to remain standing for years. We have attended city council meetings and seen and heard firsthand stories of those whose lives were forever affected by this facility.

The Kirkbride is a very large ornate building that has been under threat of demolition for years now. It is an amazing building with unlimited re-use potential. It is under ownership of the city of Fergus Falls.

"As disturbing as the recent news from Fergus Falls is, the city council remains against demolition and in favor of development. Now the challenge is to find new ideas and new developers. I can't say I'm not stressed out about this, but I'm trying to remain positive that we can overcome this setback!

Edited to add the text from Wayne Hurley: From councilman Wayne Hurley of Fergus Falls:

While it's unfortunate that we weren't able to reach an agreement with Historic Kirkbride LLC, I want everyone to know that the council is committed to preservation and redevelopment of the Kirkbride.

The majority of the council (including myself) does not support full demo - including any portions that would jeopardize the historic tax credits that are available to developers. The 2nd motion that Council member Hicks made last night specifically stated that.

Full demo is an unlikely option anyway, due to the burden it would be on local taxpayers... those of you that have been following things know that the State of New Jersey spent $34 million to demo Graystone, a Kirkbride very similar to ours. We have $4 million left in state funds.

The best use of that money is to stabilize the building, do some critical repairs, and begin to search for other redevelopment opportunities.

I can't speak to why past councils turned away previous developers, but we now on record via the motion last night that we are moving forward with preservation, not demolition.

We have members of MPF who have worked side by side with this group and we are committed to doing everything we can to help save this amazing place.

Brian H. and Kristy S. were also part of Project Kirkbride, which was an effort to create an online photo gallery of the building. Done over the course of one day, thousands of photographs were taken of all five plus levels of the main facility and the tower building. You can now virtually see the inside of the Kirkbride through browsing slideshows on this website.